Sign the 99% Declaration

For a Constitutional Convention, this organization has surprisingly modest aims. Almost all of the measures above are specific and targeted in nature, rather than addressing the broad structure and dynamics of a political process that is the proper aim of any constitution.

Most of these grievances stem from a lop-sided legislature, which grants disproportionate electoral power to a small number of voters in parts of the country where power can be easily bought by moneyed interests. That’s because the current Constitution calls for a federal system, a union of 50 states of roughly equal power. That may have made some sense in the 18th century, but it certainly does not now.

Right now, for example, a citizen of Wyoming has more than 50 times the representation in the Senate than a citizen of California. If you do the math, it’s possible for a President to be elected with 11 percent of the popular votes cast. Voters of conservative so-called ‘Red’ states certainly deserve their fair share of Congressmen, but these small-population states now control something like 170 percent of theirs.

The long-term solution is to rewrite the current Constitution to redress this imbalance. Retain the States for sentimental purposes. But modern transportation, communications, and technology have rendered them extinct as anything but a source of votes for interests that can’t pull their weight in a national dialogue, but can sway enough influence at the state level to keep their surrogates in office.